JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Kids are heading back to school, which means it’s time to start packing up those school lunches every day.
But stuffing your student’s lunchbox or bag with healthy options doesn’t have to break the bank.
We decided to tackle the “Lunchbox Challenge” to feed two teenagers lunch for five days with a target budget of roughly $40 a week for both kids combined — and I was determined to hit it.
For background, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers several meal plan tiers to help families budget for food costs — ranging from low-cost to moderate to liberal.
For this challenge, I went with the moderate plan as a realistic middle ground for most families.
With some quick calculations, we broke it down into two hypotheticals: For our teen girl, the weekly lunch budget comes out to about $17.71. For the boy, it’s $22.04 — bringing the combined total to $39.75 for five days of lunches a week.
So News4JAX photojournalist Cade Westbrook and I went shopping at Winn-Dixie to see if we could realistically feed two teenagers lunch every day of the school week (5 days) for less than $40 — and how much money parents can save if they’re smart about it.
Armed with a list and a pen in hand, I headed into the store feeling every bit like a parent on a mission.
The list included staples like bananas, granola bars, cheese, turkey, carrots, hummus, tortillas, peanut butter and fruit.
Getting the quantities right took some focus.
The first run through checkout didn’t go quite as planned.
At $59.59, I was nearly $20 over the original target. That was including Buy One Get One deals on certain items, plus Winn-Dixie app savings.
I went back through the cart and made some adjustments — trimming items that weren’t essential and rethinking portions to get closer to that goal.
The second trip through checkout told a very different story — $38.81. Two teen lunches for five days for under $40. Done.
But the ingredients are only step one.
I then laid everything out and created an array of school lunch ideas – one of them included a turkey and cheese sandwich with a banana, granola bar, carrots and hummus.
The next day consisted of a banana and peanut butter tortilla with fruits, vegetables and a granola bar. Simple, balanced and well within budget.
Here are some takeaways:
Grocery prices are higher. There’s no doubt about that, so look for deals and cheaper brands and cut back on excess food to save.
We also received savings through the Winn-Dixie app. So make sure you take advantage of the app at your favorite store. That will help cut the cost on the final bill.
Finally, parents, I now understand what you have to go through on a daily basis with your kids. You have my respect!